The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-18

/ my little caIpet-bag and | shot about ten
feet into the air, parted company as
each described curve and began
our descent, and disappeared beneath
the muddy wsters of the Big Black:
think struck the water first; anyway, I'm
sure got out first since no authenticated
account of the rescue of the bag has ever
come to my notice. As | reached the bank,
covered from head to foot with mud, slime
and the sweepings of the pontoon bridge
above, those four darkies greeted me with a
chorus of laughter as Indicative of enjoy
ment as any sound / ever heard,
and started for the train on
the Vicksburg side of the bridge on dead
run, my speed being accelerated more by a
desire to escape the darkies' mirth than to
catch the train, which, | may remark, L
didn't catch by about ten car-lengths. Why
that place was called Bovinia the Lord only
knows, unless, perhaps, because the man
who named it thought, as did, that 1t was
| a bully place to get away from.
There was now nothing left for me to do
but to walk to Vicksburg or wait six hours
for another train, and l wasn't long in max
ing up my mind to walk. The weather was
warm and by the time I had covered the
eight miles my clothes were dry, but heav-
ems, how dirty The investment of 81
brought into requisition the services of a
stout negro boy, and by dint of much rub
| blng, brushing and securing was made to
| look quite preSentable | then started for
the wharfboat of the Atlantic and Missis-
sippi Steamship Company at the foot of Clay
street SO ascertain the time of depar-
ture of the first boat for st. Louis and
was told that the steamer William
K. Carter would arrive from
New Orleans at about O'clock in the even
ing and leave about an hour later. 1t was
then about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and l
looked about for some way of killing time
until the Carter should arrive. | went into
/ the Prentiss House bar got drink and a
cigar, and, counting my money, found that
| had just $33 | sat down to enjoy my
cigar, when the idea struck me that it
wouldn't be bad scheme to play what
| money | had above my steamboat fare
against the bank Reflection and recollec-
ton of the adverse results of most of my
former enterprises of similar character
told me that it was a particularly
| bad scheme, however, and for the
| time l abandoned the project. | took a
walk up the hill and down again and tried
| in every way could think to rid myself of
the idea of risking what little money | had,
but something seemed to tell me that |
would win, and | finally yielded to power
| | couldn't resist and asked the barkeeper of
| the hotel where could find game. He di-
rected me to one a short distance from the
hotel and in three bets | had reduced my
capital to an amount just sufficient to pay
| my passage, without meals, to st. Louis. L
watched the remainder of the deal with
out playing until there was a single
turn left in the box, the Hateful
| something that had lured me into the
place meanwhile urging me to resume, and
l yielded again. l put s. on the turn and
! lost. was then desperate, and in my en-
deavor to quit even on my fare went broke.
| There didn't seem to be much of q prospect
of my getting out of the town, or staying
in it either, for that matter; but as you may
| suppose, | was pretty well used to hard
luck and didn't cry over spilled milk. |
| went back to the hotel, which was situated
on the levee, and in due time saw the Will
liam r. Carter swing away from the wharf
boat and make her way up the river with
| out me. Having nothing else to do | walked
down to the wharfbOat and sat looking into
the dark current of the Mississippi, specu-
lating as to how | should be able to stem
| that current.
ABOUT 10 o'clock little boat called the
Evening Star came up the river, bound for
Memphis, and landed / went on board and
found to my inexpressible delight an old
army acquaintance, member of fly-by-
night minstrel party that had been doing"
the small river towns To him | explained
| my plight and | was overjoyed when he
agreed to lend me money enough to pay my
fare to Memphis on the doubtful security of
my word. Half an hour later we started,
and as we rounded Mllikens bend we dis
covered sheet of fame ahead that to river
men was a too well-known sight that YES
sci was burning There was great clang-
! ing of bells increased vehemence and putting
of the exhaust pipes, and a deter
mined vigor in the song of the colored
firemen as they piled fuel into the furnaces,
and every effort was bent toward reaching
the burning wreck with the least possible
| 1ala final ClO oh 10 no
blazing boat to discover that no living thing
could exist for a moment on board of her,
and devoted our efforts to keeping at a safe
distance from her while endeavoring to dis
cover and pick up survivors OF the pas
| sengerS and crew of the f1ame-devoured
steamer we picked up thirty, many of them
| badly burned, and ascertained that the
roaring column of flame before us was all
that remained of the William r. Carter,
the boat | did not take because lxt all my
money at faro bank, and whose Boiler ex-
| pioded within less than two hours after
leaving Vicksburg
"A large number of the passengers and
crew of the Carter were burned or drowned,
| including Capt. Hurd, and, sipgularly
enough, on the same night in the Ohio river
near Paducah, KY, the steamer Missouri, of
the same line, exploded her boiler and
burned to the waters edge, and among the
many persons lost was the captain, a brother
| of the commander of the Carter. The
boilers in use on the steamers of that line
were of the tubular pattern, which were
afterward condemned by the government
inspectors and their removal from the re-
manning boats of the fleet enforced.
| IF you are not now convinced that the
luckiest thing that ever happened to me
was brought about by what people COM
monty regard as absence of luck I'll treat
that is to say l would if had the price of
the drinks"
had listened to the mans story without
uttering Il word except to remind the waiter
that our glasses needed replenishing, and as
| he recounted the circumstances of the loss
of the Carter, as implicitly believed in
the truth of mis- tale as | did III my own
existence, for | was resident of Vicl1sburg
at the time. As | arose to go | slipped a
dollar into his hand from my very slender
purse and felt sorry that l wasn't able to
give stronger lift to a man who had
played lifes game in such
horrible luck. babe him good
night and walked into the
street, stopping at the corner opposite the
gaS-light to wait for car. While standing
there my late companion and entertainer
for whom | still felt most compassionately
Sauutered up 10 the corner upon which the
| light was situated, aud, apparently not OBJ
serving me. called out: Hey. Jim, another
sucker swallowed the old bait and gave up
the case. He died hard, and bloody near
| drowned me with haar cts po and ret